Medicine presently substantially relies on pathological examination method, which consists in taking a piece of pathological tissue to ultimately arrive at a diagnosis of a pathological condition, whether infectious, tumoral, viral, etc. . . . The pathological diagnosis has to be carried out on biopsies, which are coloured, then examined under a microscope. The pathological diagnosis is thus the result of an observation with a microscope.
A surgical operation is therefore required to sample the pathological tissues, each time implying potential secondary functional consequences or damages which can be tragic, in particular on the brain.
To minimize these side effects, increasingly microinvasive surgical methods have been designed like, for example, intracerebral stereotactic biopsies.
These microinvasive approaches have been developed in all fields of human pathology (breast microbiopsy, hepatic biopsy . . . ).
Although they are essential for reducing iatrogenicity in surgical operations, they make anatomopathologic diagnosis more difficult compared to conventional sampling which provides macroscopic pieces which can be analyzed more easily.
Furthermore, the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of an increasing number of human pathological diseases has led to the emergence of non-microscopic, supplementary markers which replace or supplement the anatomopathologic diagnosis.
Thus there is a present need in the art to go beyond the limits of conventional anatomopathologic diagnosis.
A great number of prior art documents (e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,857,384, 6,155,990, 3,877,464, etc. . . . ) relate to devices adapted to be inserted into the vaginal canal and cervix area in order to obtain a specimen that can, thereafter be analysed and tested. According to these devices, it is necessary that tissue cells from the cervical area be obtained, and that the cells be examined under a microscope.
It is an object of the present invention to capture and retain molecules, more particularly protein in a maximum quantity of less than 10−6 g, in order for the method and instrument to be qualified as non invasive. Accordingly, the sampling instrument of the present invention is adapted to be as less invasive as possible. The sampling instrument of the present invention notably presents an external diameter that makes it adapted to be as less invasive as possible. It is to be understood that the sampling instrument of the present invention may capture and retain some cells. However first it is not the object to the present invention and second the conservation of theirs integrities is not expected, unlike prior art devices.